Indian Arts and Crafts Board
The Indian Arts and Crafts Board (IACB) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior whose mission is to "promote the economic development of American Indians and Alaska Natives through the expansion of the Indian arts and crafts market."[1] It was established by Congress in 1935. It is headquartered at the Main Interior Building in Washington, D.C.
History
From 1945 to 1949, the Board commissioned the American designer William Spratling to develop an Alaska Native arts program modeled on the handcraft workshops he had established in Taxco, Mexico.[2] The project was initiated with the support of curator René d'Harnoncourt and Alaska territorial governor Ernest Gruening. Spratling proposed a central museum in Juneau and a network of regional workshop and exhibition centers intended to create employment while developing markets for objects based on Alaska Native materials, techniques, and design traditions.[3]: 62–63
In early 1949, seven Alaska Native men trained with Spratling and Mexican silversmiths at his workshop in Taxco. Spratling's workshop also produced approximately 200 models—including jewelry, tableware, and decorative objects combining silver and gold with materials such as fossil ivory, baleen, and Alaska jade—to serve as prototypes for future production in Alaska.[3]: 63–66 [4]: 283–285 Although the models were exhibited in Washington, D.C., and Juneau, the proposed workshop network was never established because the necessary federal funding and administrative support did not materialize.[3]: 65–67 The models remained in the Board's headquarters collection until 2000, when they were transferred to the National Museum of the American Indian.[2]
Scope
The board provides advice and promotional activities and oversees the implementation of the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990, a truth-in-advertising law attempting to stop non-Native-made artworks from being sold as Native-made.
The IACB also operates three museums:
- Sioux Indian Museum, housed in the Journey Museum in Rapid City, South Dakota
- Museum of the Plains Indian in Browning, Montana
- Southern Plains Indian Museum in Anadarko, Oklahoma.
The IACB also publishes informative consumer education publications which are available for free download via its website.[5] These publications include: the Indian Arts and Crafts Act, How to Buy Authentic Navajo (Diné) Weavings, and Alaska Native Ivory, among many others.
Source directory
The Board publishes the online "Source Directory of American Indian and Alaska Native Owned and Operated Arts and Crafts Businesses," which lists more than 400 artists and businesses. These businesses include American Indian or Alaska Native arts and crafts enterprises; businesses and galleries privately owned and operated by American Indian or Alaska Native people; individual artists who are enrolled citizens of federally recognized tribes; and a few nonprofit organizations that develop and market art and craft products and that are managed by enrolled citizens of federally recognized tribes.[6] Some of the businesses listed in the Source Directory maintain retail shops or open studios; others sell by appointment or mail order only.[6]
See also
References
- ↑ "Our Mission". 19 October 2015.
- 1 2 "Pendant". National Museum of the American Indian. Catalog no. 25/6866. Retrieved 3 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 Morrill, Penny Chittim; Berk, Carole A. (1998). Mexican Silver: 20th Century Handwrought Jewelry & Metalwork (Revised second ed.). Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7643-0663-1.
- ↑ Littleton, Taylor D. (2014). William Spratling: His Life and Art (Louisiana paperback ed.). Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 978-0-8071-5626-1.
- ↑ "IACB Publications". 22 October 2015.
- 1 2 "Source Directory of Arts and Crafts Businesses". U.S. Department of the Interior. 20 October 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
